Dunlop leaps into the pole position in UK tyre social media ranking

Tyre brand rises three places to top of 2016 UK social branding survey

Dunlop has topped Tyres & Accessories 2016 social branding table with a score of 81.55. Like our annual global tyre social branding survey, this aims to produce a meta-score based on existing social influence metrics (namely Klout and Kred), covering both contacts and interactions across the leading social media channels including – but not limited to – Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin. The difference is that the UK table focuses on accounts managed in and for the UK tyre business.

Not only is Dunlop’s win an achievement in itself, it also represents a leap forward for the brand, which ranked 4^th in our 2015 survey. Considering the fact that the @DunlopLive handle and its associated social media networks achieved a score of 68.05 last year, it is no surprise that 13.47-point increase resulted in a three place leap for Dunlop. However while Dunlop improved rapidly, sister brand Goodyear’s (@Goodyear_UK) score declined very slightly. As a result, Goodyear stayed static in fifth place.

With both these results in mind, Tyres & Accessories contacted Goodyear Dunlop’s UK headquarters in order to find out the company’s response to winning. At the same time we also asked why there was a disparity between the firm’s two premium brands when it comes to social media ranking.

Ben Crawley, marketing director for Goodyear Dunlop pointed out both the company’s pleasure at winning and the different marketing approaches each brand utilises, commenting: “Our Goodyear and Dunlop brands have individual go-to-market strategies, this includes separate marketing partnerships and plans. Although social media is very important for Goodyear, we follow a broader marketing communications plan which encompasses many other activities that deliver high impact for the brand. Dunlop is heavily influenced by motorsport content, which gains a high level of interest on social media hence why we predominantly use this medium. We are thrilled that the activities and focus that we have put on Dunlop social platforms across the last 12 months have resulted in us coming top in the UK table.”

Last year’s winner, Michelin (@MichelinTyres), secured second place after the company’s score declined less than one point to 79.1. However while this is still 4.55 points clear of third position, such was the rate of Dunlop’s advance, it was only enough for second position this year. However, as we have Michelin’s 2016 score is only 2.45 points behind the top position and if the success of recent years is anything to go by, Michelin remains a contend for pole position.

Continental (@ContiUK) slipped one place to third despite increasing its overall score 3.4 points to 74.55. It was a similar story with fourth placed Maxxis (@Maxxis_Tyres), which improved 2.35 points and yet still declined one place. Indeed, all of the top five bar Michelin increased their 2016 scores compared with last year.

Cooper Europe the fastest improving social brand

While, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (@CooperTire) topped the global chart, @CooperTireEU was busy racking up the single fastest increase on either our global or UK tables – an increase of 42.45 points. As a result, Cooper shot up four places into sixth position, overtaking Bridgestone in the process.

Bridgestone (@BridgestoneUK) held seventh place with a score of 60.6. Interestingly, this was precisely the same score as 2015 albeit with a different make-up from Klout and Kred.

Eighth placed Toyo (@ToyoTiresUK) reported the second strongest growth in our coverage, rising 38.5 points and two places into this position.

Meanwhile, Nankang (@NankangTyreUK) fell two places and 0.15 points to a total of 52 and ninth position.

Vredestein (@Vredestein) was a new entry in 10^th position with a score of 50.85.

Meanwhile the Sentury Tire-produced flag and private brands Landsail and Davanti occupied 12^th and 11^th places respectively. For its part, 11^th placed Davanti chalked up a strong increase of 26.2 points, totally 50.25. Nevertheless @Davanti_Tyres still fell two places into this position. At the same time Landsail also reported double digit growth of 15.85 and rose one place to 12^th position, closing the rankings gap between the two brands.

The final three places in our top 15^th (Nokian – @NordicTyres; Nexen – @NexenEurope; and Zenises – @Zenises) all scored totals below 30, according to Klout. This is significant because 40 is widely understood to be something of a threshold for a professional social media account. But this reality conceals the fact that these tailenders have been significantly helped in terms of ranking positions by the disappearance of a number of accounts – especially those relating to a particularly well-known premium brand and two Korean brands. With these UK accounts suspended, the bar to entry at the bottom of the top 15 was lowered allowing relatively low scores into the listing.

Something else that these observations conceal is that the while we have tracked 10 brands on the global table and 15 on the UK table, there are actually 100s on the market. And if the scores at the bottom of the UK table are at this level, the paucity of social influence reveals both a gap and an opportunity for tyre brands looking building the name and reach online, especially via the social networks.